Nimbasa Sunrise
by phoenixflaym
Summary: Ever wonder how N perceived the famed Ferris Wheel scene? This one-shot fanfic offers some insights on N's character.


"You're _what_?" Ebony asked, looking more bewildered than angry. The air went still, and it felt as if the entire Ferris wheel had screeched to a halt.

"The King of Team Plasma. Didn't I just say that?" N looked at the brunette with equal bewilderment.

"Yeah, and I'm Ebony Keys, future champion of Unova," Ebony replied with a confident nod of her head. "Well, that could also be Ivory," she quickly added.

"Ivory?"

"He's my twin brother. You remember him, don't you?"

"The boy with the messy brown hair and the red cap?" N vaguely recalled seeing a boy matching that description with Ebony a few times. They did look alike; it had never occurred to him that they were siblings, much less twins.

Ebony's blue eyes twinkled mischievously. "Messy hair? You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

"No," N replied, oblivious to her jest. "Why do you ask?"

Ebony suppressed a groan. Instead, she leaned in a little closer to N.

"Oh, nothing," she replied, flirtatiously twirling one of N's curly mint green locks around her finger. "Your hair is just so lush…and luscious."

"Huh?" N flinched away from her, lightly knocking his head against the glass window of the Ferris wheel. Why was she acting so strange? It wasn't the first time she'd done something like that. As far as he knew, it was some sort of a human courtship ritual, that girls acted this way around boys they wanted to be in a relationship with. But wasn't she already involved with that other boy, Cheren?

"So, if you're the king of Team Plasma, I'm guessing you're related to that Ghetsis guy?" Ebony leaned closer to N, an unreadable expression in her sky blue eyes.

"Yes. Why do you ask?" N replied with a bit of an edge to his voice. It made him very uneasy when he was asked personal questions, especially if the questions related to Team Plasma.

_ Then again, she wouldn't be asking if you hadn't told her, _N silently reprimanded himself. He still couldn't find any rationalization for telling Ebony about his true position and connection with Team Plasma. At the moment, it had seemed like the right thing to do. As soon as he'd told Ebony, it felt as if an anvil had been lifted off his shoulders.

Truth be told, he didn't even know her that well. They'd met a few times previously-nearly all of which ended in a battle. She seemed like a nice-but odd-girl to N, but her constant opposition of Team Plasma's plans got on his nerves. Why did Ebony have to be so persistent?

_Then again, I'm persistent, too,_ N reminded himself. _But that's different; I'm persistent in pursuing a just cause._

"Hey, N, what're you looking at?" Ebony's voice snapped N out of his reverie. He blinked in surprise as his focus returned to the conversation.

"N-nothing. What were you saying?"

Ebony noticed the slight pinkish hue that came to N's cheeks as he said this. A flirtatious smile crossed her face.

"You were staring at my boobs, weren't you?"

"Your _what_?" _What is she talking about?_

A look of mock offense crossed Ebony's features. "Oh come on, they're not that small!" She let out a small laugh.

"E-Ebony, are you okay? You're acting like a Gothitelle in heat-"

Ebony let out a small laugh. "Heat? If it's heat you want, then that can be arranged." Before N could get in a sentence, Ebony stood over N, and quickly sat down in his lap, legs spread.

"W-what are you doing?" N blurted. He couldn't deny that he somewhat liked the sensation that the brunette gave him, but at the same time he couldn't understand what she wanted with him.

Ebony looked at him, and noticing he was completely serious, backed off. "Oh come on, I was just kidding around."

N blinked at her, completely confused by their interaction. He opened his mouth to speak, but the jostling of the Ferris wheel silenced him. As the door opened and he and Ebony got out, a small squad of Team Plasma members ran up to him.

"My lord N!" One of the members panted. "You're safe, sire!"

_You're still here? _N bit back a sigh of frustration. So much for buying time for them. N began to reach into his pocket. He would have to do this the hard way.

"You're part of Team Plasma; you're under my protection." N replied as he pulled out a small collection of Poke Balls. "Go now, and I'll cover your retreat." His gray eyes hardened as he turned to Ebony, who took a ball out of her pocket.

_I hate to admit it, but she's getting better, _N's Zorua let out a light growl. Hours had passed since N and Ebony's battle. On a bank sign, a digital clock spelled out "7:15" in blocky red letters.

"So am I," N replied. He felt his stomach squirm at the thought that his battling was improving too. _I'm only doing this for the good of Pokémon and ultimately the good of Unova, _N reminded himself.

N paused as the soft scent of hot tea drifted by. As he turned around, looking for the source of the aroma, he spotted a small coffee shop set up in a copse of trees. N motioned to his Zorua, and headed over to the front window. After a few moments of looking at the menu, a young woman a couple years younger than he was appeared behind the window.

"Can I help you, sir?"

"I'll have a small black tea, please,"

"Sugar and cream?"

"What?" N gave her a confused look.

"How much sugar and cream do you want?" the barista explained.

N paused to think. "Seven packets of sugar and four packets of cream,"

"You like your tea sweet," the barista commented. "Coming right up!" The barista disappeared behind the window, and moved to a counter a few feet away. N stood silently as he watched the barista go over to a machine with a cup. Steam rose from the cup as the tea flowed out, fogging up the window slightly. As she began to move over to another counter, N spoke.

"Did you check the temperature?" N called through the window.

"What?" The barista turned to N with a confused look on her face.

"The tea should be at exactly 91 degrees," N stated, as if it were common knowledge. "If it's making that much steam, it must be too hot. I like my tea lukewarm."

The barista turned to a sink. She turned on the faucet, letting the water cool down the tea, then took out a thermometer and stuck it in the tea. After turning off the water, the barista went back to the other counter and began to pour in the sugar packets.

"Hold on! What brand is that?" N poked his head through the window again. "I only like the type that comes in the yellow packets."

The barista muttered something under her breath that N couldn't quite catch, then began riffing through the container holding the sugar packets. After a few moments, she pulled out a few yellow packets. N counted carefully as the barista emptied each packet into the tea. She reached over to another container and took out four packets of cream, which she emptied into N's drink. With a sigh of relief, she carried the drink over to the window.

"Here you go, sir. That'll be 150."

N looked over his tea with disappointment, then looked up at the barista. "You still need to put whipped cream and sprinkles on it."

The barista barely managed to suppress a groan. She took the cup back behind the window in one swift motion. N heard her mutter "Do we even _have_ sprinkles?" as she rummaged through the cabinets. N watched as a faint mist of steam rose from his cup. His tea was getting colder by the minute. After some time passed, the barista pulled out a container of brown sprinkles. She shook the whipped cream can and expertly spiraled the whipped cream on top of N's drink. As she was about to pour the sprinkles on, N intervened.

"Stop! Those are chocolate sprinkles!" N shoved his head through the window.

"And?" The barista gave N a skeptical glance.

"I only like rainbow sprinkles, except pick out the yellow and pink sprinkles. I don't like those colors."

The barista made no comment. She went back to the cabinet, and rustled around for a bit before pulling out a container of rainbow sprinkles. Sprinkling cautiously to avoid pouring out any yellow or pink sprinkles, the barista poured the sprinkles on top of the whipped cream. Wordlessly, she went back to N and handed him the drink. N handed her some money and took his drink with a smile and a quick "thank you".

As N left the counter, he dropped a couple coins into a small jar on the counter labeled "tips". N had no clue what that meant; he just thought it seemed like a nice thing to do. As soon as he was out of earshot, the waitress let out a sigh of relief. "At least he tipped. He was my first customer of the day…let's hope he's my last."

N rubbed his hand over the smooth, curlicue edge of the metal bench as he took another sip of his tea. Zorua looked intently at N as he sipped his tea.

_What's wrong? It's not like you to be so distracted._

"I don't know," N shrugged, then took another sip. The tea was a little colder than he would've liked. After a pause, N set down his tea. "Actually, I do know. I've been thinking."

_Thinking about what that girl you fought said?_

"Ebony? No, I wasn't thinking about her. I was-"

N's sentence was cut off as a hard object slammed into the edge of the bench, making him spring to his feet. Zorua yapped and turned in all directions to see what had almost hit N. As he glanced around, N spotted a small white object at the foot of the bench and picked it up. He tilted it in his hand, inspecting the red stitching that held it together. Moments later, a little boy ran over to the bench with a guilty expression on his face.

"Did I hit you? I'm sorry! Please don't tell my dad!"

N looked blankly at the boy as he continued spurting his apology. _What just happened?_

"Can I please have my ball back?" The little boy was on the verge on tears.

N continued to look at the ball, then handed it back to the little boy. "What is it?"

A look of shock spread across the kid's face. "Haven't you ever played baseball before?" he ejaculated.

N's mint green mullet flopped around as he shook his head. "I've never even heard of it. Is it like basketball?"

"No! You have a team playing in a field, and the pitcher throws the ball, then the batter runs around the bases and the fielder tries to get the runner out."

As the little boy continued explaining it, N listened intently. Noticing he had N's attention, he commented "You're not like the other grown-ups around here. What's your name?"

"N." N replied simply.

"Ann? That's a girl's name!"

"N," N emphasized. "Like the letter after M."

"What kind of name is that?"

"Well, it's not my full name."

"Then what is your name?" The kid looked up at him with wide green eyes. N held back a groan. This kid would not give up until he had an answer. N hesitated, bracing himself for embarrassment. "Natural Harmonia Gropius."

The little boy let out a laugh. "That's a funny name!" N cringed. Why did people always react that way to his name? He didn't think there was anything funny about it. The kid turned to look at N. "Thanks for finding my ball! I need to go find my dad. Bye!" With those last words, he scampered into the grass and disappeared down the paved path.

As N watched the kid run off, his words replayed through N's mind. "I need to go find my dad." echoed through N's ears and reverberated through his head. N called to mind the image of Ghetsis. Why had he never played baseball with N? Why hadn't he ever played with N at all? Now that N thought of it, had Ghetsis ever done _anything_ fun with him? The only times Ghetsis had ever spent time with him was to tell him about the horrors of the "outside world", where Pokémon lived under the oppression of humans. But even the Pokémon seemed happy-in fact, most the humans he had seen were happy too. Perhaps Ghetsis had been mistaken. Maybe N himself wasn't seeing things clearly…

N shook his head to clear his head of these corrupting thoughts. He had a quest to complete, an ideal to fulfill. This was his destiny, to liberate all Pokémon from the tyranny of their trainers. How could he go through with this with these questions continuing to form in his head?

N sipped his tea as he admired the beautiful morning weather in the park, as the last rays of the Nimbasa sunrise shone down on him.

* * *

This is by far the longest one-shot I've ever written, fan fiction or original fiction. It just kept expanding and expanding as I thought up new ideas. On that topic, I'm thinking about writing a whole fan fiction telling the story of Pokémon Black and White from N's perspective…that is, if I find the time, which is very unlikely.

Anyways, I started this fan fiction back around mid-2011, but after getting about halfway through (up to the part where N and Ebony battle), I put it on hold because senior year started and because of Jet Set Radio: The Animated Series. When I revisited it about a year and a half later (autumn 2012) I wrote the park scene. To me the two scenes starkly contrast each other (but I don't know if other people would see it that way), probably because I wrote them about a year and a half apart. I wanted to upload it today, on the release day of Pokémon Black and White 2, not only to celebrate the game's release but also because I didn't want to wait any longer. When the first Black/White came out, there was a HUGE influx of Pokémon fan fiction, and since I missed the boat on that, this is a good opportunity to catch up.

Not to brag, but I must admit Ebony's and Ivory's names are great on so many levels. Their names fit the Black/White theme like Cheren and Bianca as well as the music theme like N and Ghetsis (Ebony and Ivory keys, like those on a piano). Besides, they're perfectly plausible names; Ebony is a relatively common name (Ivory is to a lesser extent, but it's still used) and Keys is an actual surname. I imagine Ebony to be friendly and laid-back with a very goofy sense of humor. She thinks N is really bizarre (though she doesn't realize how naïve he is), and she loves nothing more than to push his buttons and see how he reacts. She doesn't do it to be mean; she's just genuinely fascinated and curious about him and wonders why he's such an oddball.

I always refer to the player characters by the names I give them rather than the "official" names (I don't consider the manga to be canon to the games anyways). Besides, I hate all of Ebony's/Ivory's official names (Touko/White/Hilda, Touya/Black/Hilbert). I would've liked to feature them more, but this story is more about N. I also wanted to feature the Shadow Triad, who I believe to be the Striaton trio of gym leaders (there are too many similarities; it can't be coincidental): there was a scene where N went back to his hotel room where they made N tea, but I cut it out due to the park scene expanding and becoming more interesting than I thought it would be.

Speaking of names, I saw the information Junichi Masuda put on his blog about N. It's good in many ways, since I started writing this months before he posted those things (around June 2011), and what he posted is spot-on with much of how I portray N. The only thing that bothers me is the name (Seriously, Natural Harmonia Gropius?). However, it does work for my purpose, which was to explain why N chose to go by N, which I always assumed was because he gets teased about his name or gets strange looks from people when he says it. I originally went with Nereus as his name, since I saw it in another fanfiction (I forgot who wrote it, but if I ever found the author, I'd credit him/her.), and thought it was a really cool name. It also sounds good with Ghetsis.

Interestingly, I didn't come up with the title until I was almost completely finished with the story. I spent a long time trying to find a suitable title, but it came to me as I wrote the last couple sentences.


End file.
